Set in Eastern Europe at the height of the Holocaust, and based on real events, RISE is a rock musical that tells a story of unimaginable sacrifice, ferocious courage, and historical triumph, focusing on a group of young women who work as spies, smugglers, and leaders of the underground Jewish resistance as they organize and wage an uprising against the Nazi regime.
Celebrated by Broadway World as "a daring and important new musical," RISE is based on the real stories of the Kashariyot, or Couriers:
young Jewish women who disguised themselves as Aryan and traveled through Nazi territory smuggling food, messages, and weapons to the underground resistance movement throughout Europe.
As the war rages and the reality of the death camps is revealed, the Couriers lead the ragged bands of resistance fighters towards a climactic last stand and a fight for the very existence of the Jewish people.
Armed with their fierce intelligence and unbeatable courage, these brave women crossed Nazi checkpoints with bread hidden in their bags, Hebrew and Yiddish messages hidden in their braids, and homemade grenades hidden beneath their skirts.
In the depths of the Holocaust, it was a group of girls who fed and armed the scrappy and starving Jewish warriors who dared to fight back.
RISE is their story.
 |  |  |  |
|---|
RISE ignites the stage with furious electric guitar-driven rock music.
Instead of Fiddler on the Roof, this is Rock Band on the Roof.
According to Broadway World, “the score for ‘Rise' is superb, fluctuating from somber acoustic guitar ballads to catchy rock anthems evocative of The White Stripes. The edgy punk rock vibe of these songs is the perfect backdrop for a story about resistance and fighting back against the forces of evil."
The band is on stage, and The Couriers are a rocker girl group
all their own.
Listen to samples of our music.
RISE is the winner of the Bela Zarhi Prize from the Ghetto Fighters' House and the Fund for the Heritage of Polish Jewry.
It was a finalist for the Eugene O'Neill National Music Theatre Conference, and was workshopped and showcased by the Alliance for Jewish Theatre.
RISE has SOLD OUT performances in Los Angeles, Michigan, Syracuse, Rochester, London, and Jerusalem.
The debut development production of RISE ran for three weeks in Rochester, New York in 2022 to sold-out 300-seat audiences. It was followed by a sell-out performance at a 500-seat venue in Syracuse, New York. Following the outbreak of war in Israel on October 7th, RISE was staged in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, under missile fire, in an improvised venue that doubled as a bomb shelter, to a sold-out crowd that came out to see the show in the midst of an active war.
2024 workshops include the Hub in North Hollywood, the Israeli American Council, Hillel UCSB, and a sold out performance at the Holocaust Museum Los Angeles.
In 2025,
RISE performed a special concert reading that
sold out JW3 Theatre in London,
and a salon performance that sold out the Zekelman Center in Michigan.
From October 31 - November 2, RISE performed at the Limmud Conference in Lviv, Ukraine in collaboration with Project Kesher.
Watch the interview with ABC
Watch "Blame the Jews"
RISE is written and composed by American/Canadian/Israeli Joshua Daniel Hershfield.
He studied at Berklee College of Music, Antioch College, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and is a graduate of the MA in Holocaust Studies program at the University of Haifa where he was an Azrieli Foundation Scholar.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
2020/2021 - Workshopped and showcased by the Alliance for Jewish Theatre
2022 July - Full development production in Rochester, NY with CenterStage Theatre
2023 August - Transfer of Rochester production to Syracuse, NY (SOLD OUT)
2023 November - Staged reading in Tel Aviv, Israel with Udi Gottschalk
2023 December - Staged reading in Jerusalem, Israel with Theatre and Theology (SOLD OUT)
2024 May - Salon performance at the Israeli American Council, in partnership with StandWithUs Holocaust Education Centre
2024 May - Staged Reading at Hillel UCSB
2024 December - Salon performance at the Holocaust Museum LA (SOLD OUT)
2025 March - Concert reading at JW3 Theatre, London (SOLD OUT)
2025 September - Salon at the Zekelman Holocaust Center, Michigan (SOLD OUT)
2025 October/November - Performances in Lviv, Ukraine with Project Kesher
2026 March - Salon at Santa Ynez Valley Jewish Community
2026 March - Concert at Krakow JCC Krakow, Poland
2026 April - Concert for Project Kesher Benefit Banquet
Tammy Marshall, NY
"Someone should let Broadway know that the best new show since Hamilton just premiered in Rochester, NY. One of the most powerful shows I have ever seen on a stage!"
Anna Morrison Markowitz, NY
"One of the most incredible shows I've seen in years... The score screams of rebellion... You'll be living with these characters and singing these songs long after the curtain falls."
Jessica Ann Best, Mezzo-Soprano, Artistic Director, NY
"One of the most significant musicals of our time. RISE is the story that needs to be told. It is sophisticated and personal, with haunting and beautiful melodies that you will go home singing. A powerful moment in theatre that needs to be seen and heard.”